Washington Quarter History

It may be surprising to know that the Silver Washington Quarter you have in your pocket is the same coin that was first issued in 1932 to commemorate George Washington’s 200th birthday. These Quarters consisted of 90% Silver until 1964.

In fact, there has only been a one year pause in production of the Washington Quarter. Of course, changes to the design have occurred throughout the years; leaving the coin world with slight variations that can be rare: the 1934 and 1943-S Double Dies, the 1950-S/D, and the 1950- D/S to name a few. Other rare Silver Washington Quarters are the 1932-D and 1932-S because of the low number that was minted.

Then in 1999, the United States decided to introduce a change to the back of the Washington Quarter by commemorating the 50 States, which spiked a new interest in this old coin.